As Big Box Stores And Malls Die, Suburbia Slides Into Poverty

The Internet has brought prosperity to many, but suburbia, where poverty is rising dramatically, is not included. Technocrat-minded companies like Amazon are most often blamed for creating a new class of citizens – the ‘unemployables.’ ⁃ TN Editor

As of 2014, urban areas in the US had 13 million people living in poverty. Meanwhile, the suburbs had just shy of 17 million.

The Great Recession of 2008 helped accelerate much of the poverty that emerged in the early 2000s, Allard’s research has found. But another disrupting factor was the technological shift that enabled — and continues to enable — online retailers like Amazon and other e-commerce sites to replace shopping malls and big-box stores.

This ongoing demise has hollowed out many of the jobs suburban Americans once turned to as a means of supporting themselves.

“When we think about the current labor market, there’s reason to be concerned about the disappearance of good-paying, low-skill jobs,” Allard told Business Insider.

His research has found that even when the US began its climb to economic recovery in the 2010s, the suburbs continued to sink into poverty. More jobs sprang up, but not the kinds that helped people live secure lives. Most are part-time positions with low wages.

July 05, 2017 The global economy is grinding to a halt as Sears Canada is forced to close 60 stores and lay off thousands of workers More signs of an impending mass retail collapse are emerging, this time in Canada. According to new reports, struggling department store giant Sears is planning to close 60 stores throughout Canada, eliminating nearly 3,000 jobs in the process and setting the company on a track towards bankruptcy.